OPENINGS:  SAN ANDREAS (Village Roadshow/RatPac Dune/New Line/Warners) had a solid 13% Saturday bump that propelled it to a $53.2M weekend, significantly above expectations–and with no direct competition arriving next weekend, it should hold fairly well (until Jurassic World arrives in 2 weeks).  The surprising part of the picture is that given that level of […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #28 of 2015 looks like $204 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, above the norm for this weekend and way above last year’s weak weekend. Opening at 4,301 theaters Friday, Minions from Universal is on track for a $115.2 million opening three-day weekend (a little lower than yesterday’s outlook but still […]

  OPENINGS:  STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON (Legendary/Universal) turned out to be somewhat frontloaded, with a 20% drop on its 2d day of release.  But no one will complain about its huge $56.1M weekend, the #6 August opening ever (and #2, behind only Signs, among non-franchise titles).  It should add plenty of gold to Universal’s 2015 pile […]

  OPENINGS:  THE MARTIAN (20th) barely missed setting a new October opening record at $55M, just $800K behind Gravity (which had a much shorter running time and the advantage of IMAX ticket prices).  Gravity made it all the way to $274.1M in the US, and although Martian may have a tough time getting near that […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.     YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is still +4% above last year and still +1% above the average for this point the past four years ($8.910 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed over $23.6 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office […]

  OPENINGS:  RIDE ALONG 2 (Universal) is projecting a $39.5M 4-day weekend, 19% below the $48.6M opening of the first Ride Along exactly 2 years ago.  That would put its US trajectory at $100-110M, enough to make it a fine piece of business for all concerned, but any growth would have to come from overseas, […]

Weekend #21 of 2016 forecasts for films opening wide and major returning films: NEW FILMS THIS WEEKEND May 20-22, 2016 Critics Positive ($ millions) Opening Weekend Forecast Domestic Total Projection Overseas Total Projection Worldwide Total Projection Angry Birds Movie Sony PG 54% 39.5 135 305 440 Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising Universal R 67% 38.5 125 […]

Weekend #29 of 2016 forecasts for films opening wide and major returning films: NEW FILMS THIS WEEKEND July 15-17, 2016 Critics Positive ($ millions) Opening Weekend Forecast Domestic Total Projection Overseas Total Projection Worldwide Total Projection Ghostbusters Sony PG13 75% 53.0 150 140 290 The Infiltrator Broad Green R 57% 5.0 20 15 35 Note: […]